Don't Forget to Love Me
by misskittikarei
Summary: Aoshi goes off for four years and returns; has Misao changed?
1. Aoshi Returns

*DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING ALREADY COPYRIGHTED SO YOU CAN'T SUE ME, ETC. and even if you tried all I have is a pack of gum to my name.

*Hi, this is my first fan fic. I hope you like it

*Everything is very OOC except Aoshi and Misao's personality traits

*Yeah, not really much information b/c I am making this up as I go along and hopefully some day arrive at the perfect conclusion

-Miami, Florida-

Spending the night at the airport was the last thing Aoshi expected. Since it was impossible to get a direct flight to Alaska, (Okay, I'm pretty sure you can get a direct flight from Boston to Juneau but let's pretend a freak storm occurred) he gave up trying to avoid passing through Miami but then the freak snowstorms came out of nowhere.

'At least in Miami it's practically summer all year,' he thought, himself resigning to the hard plastic chair. 'So much for comfort. I might as well call the chiropractor now.'

-Three Hours Later-

Aoshi gave up any hope that he'd fall asleep with the robust woman next to him, snoring like grating nails on a chalkboard. Resisting the urge to place a sock down her throat, Aoshi stood up, serene and aloof as always, striding toward the exit doors.

'Hey, while I'm here might as well drop in on the family,' he thought sourly.

He took a cab over to South Beach where at ten p.m. nightlife was just beginning. Skimpy clad girls rubbed against him as he walked down the street. They of course couldn't resist this mysteriously sexy enigma. He gave each of them an icy look of contempt.

"Whores..." he muttered under his breath. He finally arrived at his destination, The Bay of Biscay Hotel (I made this up so I hope this hotel doesn't really exist). It was owned and operated by his "family."

"Hello, Enishi." The white haired man at the desk looked up at Aoshi. He smiled coolly, wondering why the hell Aoshi decided to show up. "I see you've been fixing up the place. Marble floors, a fireplace, 24-karat gilding. Impressive. Is that a real Van Gogh?"

"Yes." Enishi drummed his fingers against the reception desk. After being ignored by Aoshi for five minutes, he exasperatedly sighed. "Why are you here, Aoshi?"

"You're not the godfather yet Enishi. Better keep your curiosity to yourself."

"You haven't been here for four years! Wanted to go off and meditate with a bunch of 'geniuses'! Now you decide we're good enough for you? Or at least we're good enough for you to lead us. You gave up your claim as heir a long time ago when you let him die." At the mention of 'him,' Aoshi slightly flinched. He drew all the emotion out of his voice.

"Temper, temper, it's going to get you in trouble someday Enishi. So where is everyone?"

"Aoshi, I can't believe you're here!" Aoshi slowly turned toward Misao's voice but was attacked before he could scarcely blink. Misao pummeled into him, sending both of them to the floor.

"I knew you didn't kill him, Aoshi. I knew you'd come back." Misao beamed down at Aoshi.

"What the hell happened to you, Misao?"

Okay, that's chapter one. I know I'm suppose to make it more descriptive but use your imagination for now. Next chapter I'll focus more on details.

~Miss Kittikarei~


	2. Kimiko's Demise

*DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING ALREADY COPYRIGHTED SO YOU CAN'T SUE ME, ETC. and even if you tried all I have is a pack of gum to my name.

"Hello to you too, Aoshi." She stood up. After a few seconds, she gave him a strange look. "Maybe you'd like to get up off the floor, hm?" Aoshi gave her a pointed look and proceeded to sprawl himself out on the floor, just so she would get the satisfaction of stunning him.

"Perhaps I like it here, Misao. I'm not a man ruled by material desires."

She snorted and murmured, "You're not ruled by any desire."

"You said something?"

"I said you're a liar." He dismissed her by staring at the fresco on the ceiling. She began to hang her head in disappointment but decided not to bow down to Aoshi's insolent ways. "What do you mean, 'what the hell happened to you'?'

"You look like you've been living on a farm for the past four years."

"Well, unlike you I haven't been lazing about. It's called work, ever heard of it?"  
-

Later Misao went to her room on the top floor (the "family" lives on the top two floors) talking with her cousin, Ako. She had been trying to get Misao to forget about Aoshi, the man who was a murderer.

"Oh, Misao, I can't believe you won't accept the fact that Aoshi killed Yasuo. Everyone knows Yasuo killed Kimiko. Even if no one can prove it."

"I remember…" Misao's mind wandered to the night five years ago.

Kimiko was a close friend of Misao and Ako. She was a beautiful, petite girl so full of life and love for everyone. Aoshi had loved her and though he never said so, Misao saw the love in his eyes. At first she was jealous but she couldn't hate Kimiko. Then her jealousy turned to relief when Kimiko confided to her that she was in love with Yasuo. Yasuo was a member of the Nakamura "family" which was in alliance with Misao's "family," the Miyagi. Yasuo abused the love of the fair Kimiko but Kimiko was steadfast in her devotion to him and thought the news of her carrying his child would reaffirm his love for her.

"Yasuo, I am pregnant." Yasuo rolled off Kimiko. His eyes rolled in disgust at her.

"Whose brat is it? I knew you were a whore."

"It's yours! I swear, Yasuo. You know I only love you!"

"Don't lie to me, you bitch. You just want to be a Nakamura." He slapped her and then punched her belly.

"No, please, Yasuo…"

Yasuo didn't stop until he had beaten the life out of her. Misao was the one who found her first. So young was poor Kimiko, dying at twenty-two. Aoshi was the first to respond to Misao's anguished cries. He fell into a rage seeing sixteen-year old Misao holding the bloody corpse of Kimiko.

"Ya- Ya- Yasuo…" Misao's voice was ragged and the tears spilled over her cheeks. Aoshi left, bent on revenge; he didn't come back for two weeks, a few days until after Yasuo's rotting body was found in an alley. The police report said that a robber killed both Yasuo and Kimiko, yet the families knew the truth.

"It wasn't Aoshi… he loved Kimiko." Ako grunted.

"Misao, you promised that whenever Aoshi came back you would not lapse into your undying devotion for him."

"I'm not going to, Ako, because it hurts too much. Can't I though in the privacy of my bedroom?"

"Find someone else to love, Misao. Someone who truly cares for you. If Aoshi truly wanted to be with you he would give some sign," Ako pleaded.

Misao sighed. "It is his way to not be distant and that is why I love him. He is strong and isn't rule by his emotions like me"

"Nevertheless, he is a broken man, little one. You need a man who is whole."

"I know," Misao cried. "It's just that I cannot love anyone else."

"Then you will carry this torch for him?"

"Always."

"You have my sympathy since you will never know what is to be loved."

Ako left the room and Misao burst into tears.

"I'll make him love me, if even with my dying breath."

Aoshi sat on the balcony watching the sunrise the next morning. He drank green tea that he bought from a vendor down the street and contemplated his decision to stay in Miami. There were bad memories here, painful ones of Kimiko. Every night his dreams were haunted by the fact that he couldn't save her, the image of little Misao holding the dead Kimiko running through his mind. Seeing Yasuo's carcass gave him little peace of mind and a grim satisfaction.

The French doors opened and Misao stepped out onto the balcony.

"Sorry, Aoshi. I didn't know you would be out here."

"Do you come out here often?"

"Every morning."

"Then I should apologise for intruding on your space."

"The beauty of watching the sunrise doesn't belong to one person. It is too beautiful."

"Hmm"

The sun washed the white stucco building in a orange-red light. The palms swayed in the cool morning breeze. The salty mists of the sea sprayed lightly on Misao's face. She breathed in the summer and listened to the comforting sound of the water washing ashore.

"Misao, there's something I want to ask you."

This chapter took a while to right. I had to do some research: roll eyes: The Internet can be so annoying sometimes.

Hope you liked it!

~Miss Kittikarei~


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